TUI approached us with an unusual, but compelling creative brief: Help it develop a new brand name for their existing Thomson Cruise fleet as part of the shift from Thomson to TUI in the UK.

The challenge? The name had to perfectly align with the existing ship names (Discovery 1 and 2), be original, ownable, aspirational and have an affinity with TUI and cruising. The company had been trying to crack the name for a long time.

At the heart of cruising is discovery, exploration, aspiration and the vast opportunity presented by the ocean. We conducted a broad piece of consumer research, hosted facilitation sessions and looked at length at the etymology of existing cruise ship names as well as those of words associated with the water, the sea, discovery and exploration.

An in-depth three month market research piece followed where our shortlist was put to the consumer test. And the result is on the right – which launched in the Med in 2018! Say hello to Marella Cruises!

real ideas

INVENTING AN ORIGINAL, OWNABLE, ASPIRATIONAL NEW NAME FOR THOMSON CRUISES.